Lava Hound
"The Lava Hound is a majestic flying beast that attacks buildings. The Lava Pups are less majestic angry babies that attack anything." Summary *The Lava Hound is unlocked from the P.E.K.K.A's Playhouse (Arena 4). *It is a single target, short ranged, flying troop with very high hitpoints and small damage. *A Lava Hound card costs 7 Elixir to deploy. *Upon death, it splits into 6 Lava Pups, which have no preferred target and deal more damage than the Lava Hound, but have very low hitpoints. *It only attacks buildings, has high hitpoints and splits into smaller units, similar to the Golem. The only exception is that the Lava Pups attack anything while the Golemites only attack buildings. *The Lava Hound appears to be a burning rock monster with an underbite, with short wings and small limbs. It has small rocky dog ears. *Sending the Lava Hound alone is futile. It is most recommended to use another ranged troop to support the Lava Hound. Strategy *Lava Hound is a good air tank with high hitpoints, so it is best used as a shield for weaker troops like Minions, Minion Horde, Spear Goblins, and Goblins. **Alike the Golem, the Lava Hound does little damage on its own. Support it with high-damage cards – ranged, ideally. *The Inferno Tower is an excellent counter to the Lava Hound, as it deals high damage to the Lava Hound while it doesn't take much damage from the hound in return. **Back the tower up with a Musketeer or use Arrows to finish off the Lava Pups. **Despite this, the Lava Hound may not be powerless. Send Minions to distract/destroy the Inferno Tower and the Musketeer. This will allow the Lava Hound to continue its job! **Even if you decide not to counter the Inferno Tower and the Musketeer, it will result in a negative Elixir trade anyway (8 for 7). *If Lava Hound is paired up with another tank, a Crown Tower will likely target the other tank after killing the Lava Hound. If this happens, have an area damage spell ready, as the Lava Pups will spawn and deal incredible damage. *A Lava Hound, in many scenarios, is more useful than a Golem. The Lava Hound costs less Elixir, cannot be targeted by high-damage troops like P.E.K.K.A or Princes. Also, Lava Pups have bigger damage than Golemites. The Lava Hound also has a one second deploy time as opposed to the Golem's three second deploy time. **However, one disadvantage of it is the difficulty to obtain it, as Lava Hound is a Legendary. Also it cannot be targeted by troops that cannot target air - such as Barbarians, which means it cannot distract them. *The LavaLoon is a popular strategy where the Lava Hound tanks for a Balloon while it wreaks havoc on towers. It interestingly is also a good strategy in Clash of Clans. **It can, however, can be countered by the Three Musketeers with minor reinforcement(s). *The Lava Hound is not an ideal choice by itself, so you may want to back it up to do more damage. *Whenever defending against it, you must be very wise in deciding what to do. A Lava Hound can shield any troop effectively, and be ready for a very strong attack if your opponent has been putting Elixir Collectors. Trivia *The Lava Hound was added to the game on 3/5/16 with the May Update. **Since its introduction, it is the first Legendary that a player is able to obtain, at Arena 4. *On 18/5/16, a Balance Update increased the Lava Hound's hitpoints by 3% and Lava Pup's hitpoints by 9%. *On 21/6/16, a Balance Update increased the Lava Hound's damage by 28%. *Before it was added to the game, the only cards that cost 7 elixir were the Barbarian Hut & P.E.K.K.A. *It is the most expensive Legendary card. *It functions just like its Clash of Clans counterpart. A difference is that when the Lava Hounds get upgraded, the Clash Royale Lava Pups increase in stats, while Clash of Clans Lava Pups increase in numbers. **Another difference is that the Clash Royale Lava Hound does not deal damage upon death, while the Clash of Clans Lava Hound does do death damage. *Among all maximum level troops, Lava Hound deals the least damage per second, doing only 50 damage per second at level 5. *Lava Pups are similar to the Minion Horde, having similar hitpoints and equal in number, but only deal about half the damage. *Even if ignored, Lava Pups are powerful and deal equivalent damage to a tower as a Hog Rider being hit by the Arena Tower and Archers would do. *The Lava Hound may be a female, as it carries pups. However, this is not confirmed. **In a Clash of Clans ad, Legend of the Last Lava Pup, the Lava Hound is referred to as male and the pups' father. The pups were also referred to as male. Lava Hound Attributes Lava Pup Attributes Card Statistics de:Lavahundru:Адская гончаяit:Mastino lavico Category:Troop Cards Category:Legendary Cards